One popular form in which optical fibers are marketed is as optical fiber ribbons, each ribbon comprising an array of parallel optical fibers joined and encapsulated by an plastic encapsulant. Optical fiber ribbons are mass-produced and are often marketed in the form of reels, that is, a length of optical fiber ribbon wound around a cylinder or spool. The U.S. patent of Shahid, No. 5,287,426, granted Feb. 15, 1994, incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for forming a plurality of connectors on an optical fiber ribbon such that, when a length of the ribbon is to be used, the ribbon can be severed by cutting through a connector. Thus, optical fiber ribbons can be marketed in the form of reels with the connectors being periodically located along the ribbon which is stored on the reel.
One step in making such connectors is to strip the plastic encapsulant from that part of the optical fiber ribbon on which the connector is to be formed. The Shahid patent teaches that this can be done by exposing the ribbon segment to a chemical which softens it so that it can be manually removed. Manual removal of the softened encapsulant, however, is somewhat inconsistent with machine production of the optical fiber ribbon. It would be desirable to reduce the manual skill and time needed to remove the softened encapsulant from arrays of optical fibers such as optical fiber ribbons.